


Daily Lives of Boppin' 2-A

by FlyingBowl



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Comedy, Fanfiction Comedy (MICF), Gen, Girl Band, High School, School, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2019-10-05 11:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17324093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingBowl/pseuds/FlyingBowl
Summary: Class 2-A of Haneoka Girls' High School is the home of a fleeting air-headed prince, a genius idol with loose screws, and a normal girl who involuntarily becomes their mom.A BanG Dream fanfiction that focuses on Lisa Imai, Hina Hikawa, and Kaoru Seta's bizarre friendship.





	1. Separation and Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own BanG Dream! and any of its characters (the original characters are still mine, tho). BanG Dream! multimedia franchise is the property of Bushiroad and Craft Egg.

Lisa Imai never considered her life as dull, boring, or something along the lines. She had been living a great life. Lisa’s family and friends always brought colors to her somewhat simple yet good life. 

...but her time in class 2-A of Haneoka Girls’ Academy was definitely something else.

“Yukina, let’s--”

“Lisa,” Yukina cut Lisa’s sentence halfway. She crossed her arms and averted her face from the view before her. “If you’re planning to break through _that_ , then count me out.”

Lisa and her best friend, Yukina Minato, witnessed a situation that unfolded at the courtyard of Haneoka girls’ high school. Hundreds of people from every grade were bustling around in front of a large announcement board that displayed a list of classrooms and its students. Every gray blazered girl there was busily looking for her own name. Chatter after chatter, even shouts were happening here and there, too.

“We should’ve gone earlier, ahaha,” said Lisa. “It’s always this crowded…”

“But I’ve been telling you that I don’t care about class placements,” Yukina replied. “...well, the crowd will thin out sooner or later.”

Truth was, they _had_ went earlier than usual. Today was their first day as second year students, so it was a special occasion for Lisa. Their blue ties and skirts were the new uniform that signified their current status.

Lisa’s enthusiasm didn’t spread to Yukina, however. She literally had to drag Yukina from her house, as her friend was so absorbed by cat videos. The two’s walk to school wasn’t gone smooth, too. They had to stop for a few times because of Yukina spotting some cute stray cats.

Yukina put out her phone from her school bag, then opened a video streaming app. “I’ll continue watching this morning’s cat videos while waiting.”

“Yeah, you’d better do that. It’s gonna take some time, after all.”

Lisa smiled as she recalled her best friend’s soft spot for felines.

“Heya, Lisa!”

Lisa turned her head and saw three of her friends from dance club approaching.

“Hey, guys!” Lisa greeted them as she waved her right hand.

“...and Minato-san, too. Morning!”

Yukina shifted her focus from the phone to reply ‘morning’, then immediately returning to the cat videos. Lisa realized that her friend didn’t seem too pleased with Yukina’s cold response, judging from her friend’s expression. She should try diverted her attention from Yukina, to prevent any possible clash...

“Have you check the board yet?”

Thankfully, it worked. After the talk about classroom placement and dance club ended, the three left for their own classes.

Lisa sighed. Her friends must be astonished about the fact that she and Yukina were close friends. Their personalities were nothing alike; just like flame and water. Even their interests didn’t match. While Lisa loved fashion, cooking, knitting, and dancing; Yukina had a strong passion for one and only subject: music (make it two if cats were included). Some of her friends said that Lisa and Yukina’s friendship was an odd one, but she never thought of it in that way. On the contrary, their longtime friendship had been working very well because they were complementing each other.

“Kaoru-sama…!”

A second year student got out from the big crowd. Her face looked so miserable because she was trying hard to hold her tears. The girl walked to a smaller group of students that was gathering outside of the announcement board’s crowd.

Curious about what was going on, Lisa quietly observed the group.

A princely character named Kaoru Seta was seen at the center of the circle. The most popular girl in the school was constantly surrounded by fans wherever she went. That aside… Lisa could not help but notice that there was something off with the Haneoka’s prince, as the tall girl didn’t wear her blazer. Who would’ve thought there was someone who dare to walk outdoors, only wearing a shirt, on Tokyo’s cold April morning? It was 13 degrees Celcius and the winds were breezy, on top of that.

Kaoru got out from her fans’ circle and approached the poor girl. “Yumi-chan? What’s wrong?” she asked. Worry was apparent on her face.

“Kaoru-sama, I…” Yumi sobbed. Before long, tears were pouring from her eyes. “I’m in 2-H!”

“I... I see… To think that we would be separated so far away like the north and south pole,” said Kaoru in a lower voice. “But fret not, little kitten.” She fixated her gaze to Yumi and used her fingers to wipe away the tears from the little kitten’s eyes.

An imaginary rose petals being flown by winds filled Lisa’s vision. What was that? How could there be roses here? Her school didn’t plant any! Lisa rubbed her eyes. She must be imagining things.

“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation,” Kaoru solemnly said. She winked and added, “...well, that was, according to the great Shakespeare.”

“Aaaahh, Kaoru-sama!!”

Did Lisa just see that girl fainted? The rumors about Kaoru’s special ability to make girls went limp was true, after all? It was... amazing, in some way. Lisa was witnessing Kaoru panicking around, when she felt her phone vibrated.

Lisa took out the phone from her blazer’s pocket to see a LINE notification. There was a chat from Yukina that said, ‘I’m in front of the board’ and before she could type a reply, another chat bubble popped out: ‘You’re in 2-A’.

Lisa typed ‘K, coming~’ as she walked toward the announcement board. The crowd had dispersed. Most of the students must’ve gone to their respective classes. The brunette saw Yukina standing in front of the board without any obstacle.

Another vibration.

Lisa took a peek on her LINE notification. Her eyes widened as she read a ‘I’m in 2-B’ chat bubble. It was her who was so enthusiastic to leave early in order to check the announcement board. For the entire school holiday, she secretly wished that they could be in the same classroom.

Lisa didn’t need to reply the chat anymore. She was only a few steps from her childhood friend, anyway. Yukina seemed to recognize the sound of Lisa’s footsteps, as she turned her head. Her friend pointed at a section that titled 2-B. She looked indifferent as usual, but Lisa knew that she must be quite upset about the classroom’s placement.

With Yukina being like that, Lisa couldn’t wear a sad face. Instead, she poked Yukina’s cheek and jokingly said, “Don’t be lonely without me~”

“I’m not…” Yukina’s pale cheek reddened. “And it hurts, you know.”

Lisa grinned. Kinda forgot that she wore artificial nails from her nail art treatment.

“Eeh, this pattern again?!”

“Are you going to be okay, Ran-chan?”

“Noooo~ Moca-chan should’ve offered more breads to Babanbo-sama…”

“...seriously, what God do you pray to?”

“St--stop it, you guys! I’m not a kid…”

A group of five first years gathered near Lisa and Yukina’s spot. Two of them were Lisa’s friends from different clubs: Tomoe Udagawa from dance club and Himari Uehara from tennis club. Lisa wanted to congratulate them for entering high school, but the current situation didn’t look so good. The girl with highlighted hair, unfortunately, was separated from the rest of her friends.

Lisa gave her best friend’s a careful look once more. Yukina seemed still unaffected by their class placement. While it wasn’t their first time being in separate classes, she couldn’t help but worry. Yukina wasn’t very good at socializing, after all.

“Yukina…”

“I’m fine, Lisa,” Yukina replied. She made an eye contact to Lisa as she added, “Honest.”

Lisa chuckled. She must’ve sounded like a mommy worrying over her little daughter.

The brunette then searched for her name on 2-A’s section. “Imai… Imai…” said her as she was browsing the paper’s surface with her index finger.

“There’s it!!”

Lisa’s finger accidentally collided with someone’s when she reached the surname that read ‘Hikawa’.

“Oh, sorry!”

A girl with sparkly eyes came into Lisa’s view. Although they never talked before, Lisa knew her. She was Hina Hikawa, the brightest student in Haneoka Girls’ Academy. Last year, it was her who gave a speech representing the first years. Though, to tell the truth, Lisa didn’t understand some of the genius’ vocabulary. What were ‘boppin’ and ‘zappin’ meant, for instance?

“No prob! Welp, it’s me who bumped into your finger,” Hina said as she smiled widely. “Hey, hey, are you in 2-A, too?”

Lisa nodded. “You see… my name is below yours, Hikawa-san.” She glanced at her own name on the board.

And it was the beginning of—Lisa would had to borrow this word from Hina—the boppin’ days of 2-A.


	2. Clash of Personalities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own BanG Dream! and any of its characters (the original characters are still mine, tho). BanG Dream! multimedia franchise is the property of Bushiroad and Craft Egg.

****“It’s boppinly packed!!”

Hina Hikawa scoured her new classroom with ultra energy. Together with Lisa Imai, her new classmate she encountered at the announcement board, they were touring the room to greet their classmates.

“Hi there, Hikawa-san!”

“Nice to metcha, Hina!”

“Let’s be friends, Hikawa-san!”

To Hina’s surprise, her new classmates already knew her, even before she had a chance to introduce herself. She had a difficulty to recall their names in return, though. More importantly, have they even met before? Hina might posses a great memory, yet she tend to forget about people who she didn’t meet in regular basis. Meanwhile Lisa appeared to be well-known among 2-A students too, as she blended naturally in the other girls’ chats.

2-A was a typical Haneoka classroom which had 35 desks, separated into five rows. About two-thirds of the seats were already occupied. Hina and Lisa took the desks beside the window. Hina seated at the fifth one, Lisa behind her, while the last one apparently had been occupied by someone else (only a blazer was seen on its chair).

“Hey, Lisa-chi,” said Hina as she rested her hands on Lisa’s desk. “It’s strange…”

Lisa put her school bag on the desk and asked, “What's wrong?”

“You and the others know each other from clubs and such, right?” asked Hina, which Lisa responded with a nod. “Welp, truth is, I’m confused when they called my name. Feels like I didn’t know them before, so it feels strange…” She ended her sentence with a sigh. “Am I forgetting them, somehow?”

“That might be the case, but...” said Lisa, touching her own chin, eyes gazing upwards. “Umm…”

Hina did some thinking as well. Usually when she forgot her acquaintances’ name, at least she remembered his or her face.

Lisa made eye contact with Hina again. “Or maybe it’s because you’re famous in the school! I mean, you’re the top student in exams and last year you were the one gave the speech representing the first years,” she explained. “To tell you the truth; I had known you already, even before we met today.”

“Eeeh, is that so?” Hina wondered. So she was kinda famous in the school. Who would’ve thought?

“Positive! No need to worry, Hika--”

“Bhooo!” Hina pouted. “Just ‘Hina’ will do, Lisa-chi!”

“Okay, okay, Hina… Sorry, I thought you’re the type to mind being called on first name basis by, you know, a friend you’ve just met? Ahaha,” said Lisa, who seemed flustered for some reason.

“Really? I find it distant to call my friends with last names, be it new or old ones.”

This talk made Hina think about her sister, Sayo. Her older twin was the opposite of her in this matter. Sayo rarely—or never?—addressed people outside of their family with first names.

“Hina-chan…!!”

That voice and hug broke Hina’s thought. She turned her gaze and saw a petite girl. “Where’ve you been, Chie-chan?”

“Hey, Lisa-chan! Classmates at last!” Chieko Nakahara greeted Lisa too, then turned to Hina again. “The track club had this morning meeting, you know…”

“On the first day of school? Zappin’~!”

On the contrary, Lisa was startled. “You girls are really pumped up, huh…”

Chieko shook her head. “Nah, we’re not doing any practice. Just discussing about plans to recruit new members,” she explained. “By the way, who’s your pick for class rep?”

“Who are the candidates?” Hina asked.

“I’m pretty sure Takahashi the 1-F’s class rep is gonna nominate again.”

“1-F…” Hina tried to recall anything related to that class. “Oh! The one that was so pewpewpew BOOM during the dodgeball matches?”

Lisa laughed. “Pewpewpew BOOM? Hina, you sure have an interesting choice of words!”

“But I haven’t the slightest idea of the other candidates…” Chieko sighed. “Man, it’s not exciting when there’s no competi--oh!! Lisa-chan, you should nominate too!”

Lisa’s mouth widened. “...come again?”

“Wow, that’s boppin’! We should vote for Lisa-chi!”

“Hold on--aah, let’s talk about something else!” said Lisa. She paused for a moment before continued, “Umm… Speaking of competition, Kisaragi-san is here too, right?”

“There she is,” said Chieko, pointed to a long haired girl who sat in front of the teacher’s desk and was currently reading a book.

“Kisaragi who?” asked Hina. The name didn’t ring any bell and this Kisaragi wasn’t there when she and Lisa toured the class.

“Sssh! Not so loud!” Chieko whispered.

“Hina,” said Lisa in a low voice. “You seriously don’t know Satomi Kisaragi? Her name’s like--” her voice turned into a whisper, “--always below yours on the exam’s scoreboard.”

“Oh, no wonder that name sounds unfamiliar!” Hina gleefully said. “I never look at the scoreboard; that’s why!”

“Ahaha…” Lisa giggled awkwardly. She tried to say something, but immediately closed her lips again. She seemed at a loss for words.

Before any of the trio realized, the topic of their conversation had stood beside their desks, making Lisa and Chieko startled.

“Greetings, Hikawa-san,” said Satomi Kisaragi. But despite of her words, she was staring at Hina sharply. Was she trying to challenge Hina at a staring contest? If that was the case…

Hina stared back at her. She didn’t have the gift to wear an intimidating look, but she tried anyway. An imaginary intense background music from Honest Trailers’ YouTube series was being played in her head; the one that was usually put whenever a ‘staring moment’ popped out.

Satomi, still in her staring mode, continued, “I heard that you never bother to check the scoreboard. Are you even serious about school?”

Of course Hina was serious about her academic life. Though oftenly arrived late, she never skipped school. As for the scoreboard, however…

“Are numbers that important?” Hina candidly asked.

“Y--you!” Satomi’s face turned as red as a tomato. She then walked away while declaring, “I’m so going to beat your score at the midterms, you’ll see!”

Hina gave her new classmate a friendly wave in return. Though didn’t understand Satomi’s motive, an exam score competition sounded exciting for her.

“That’s mean, Hina-chan!” Chieko teasingly said. “...gosh, you’re always this frontal that it gives me goosebumps sometimes!”

“I… kinda regret bringing this topic up, ahaha,” Lisa added. She smiled in guilt and continued, “I should say sorry to Kisaragi-san later.”

“Huh? Did we say something wrong to her?”

Before either Lisa or Chieko were able to say anything, a young teacher in tracksuit entered the classroom. The PE teacher named Hanako Kobayashi introduced herself as 2-A’s homeroom teacher. After giving a short speech, a roll call plus self introduction for every 2-A students were held. Before long, it came the moment for the class representative election. And as Chieko predicted before, Reina Takahashi from 1-F nominated herself.

Miss Kobayashi wrote Reina’s name on the whiteboard. “Any other candidates?”

Hina and Chieko, who happened to seated diagonally, exchanged eye contact, then pointed at Lisa.

“W--wait! Wha--?!”

The other classmates began murmuring around.

“Ooh, Imai-san? She’s great.”

“Yeah. Lisa-chan’s good at communication.”

“Great choice, Hikawa-san!”

“Sensei, I’m nominating Lisa too!”

“Me too!”

“Me three!”

Long story short, the election finally began. Each student had to write the name of her favorable candidate on a piece of paper and put it in a box. The candidates? No other than Reina Takahashi and Lisa Imai. Hina, as the one who nominated Lisa, wrote her name, of course.

“It’s a tie, girls…” announced Miss Kobayashi enthusiastically as she put one more vote for Lisa. She glanced at the only remaining folded paper, then took it. “This will determine the win--what?!”

“What’s wrong, Sensei?” asked up one of the students.

Miss Kobayashi showed the last vote to the entire class. It was an A5-sized loose leaf paper with neatly written Kanji characters on it. Hina could see some kind of flowers decorating the corners of each kanji.

“Whose vote is this?” asked the teacher.

“Why, that would be mine, Kobayashi-sensei,” said a cool-sounding voice from behind.

Hina and everyone in 2-A turned their heads to the cornermost desk beside the window. The seat’s owner was a crimson eyed girl who wore her hair in a ponytail, Kaoru Seta.

“Please explain why did you write both Takahashi-san and Imai-san’s name here,” said the homeroom teacher. “One vote is for one candidate, Seta-san.”

Kaoru dropped a heavy sigh. “It pains me greatly to choose only one, because every little kitten in the world deserve to shine.”

“Please be serious for a bit…” said Miss Kobayashi as she was trying to keep her ideal teacher’s smile.

Kaoru rose from her seat. “But I am, my mother kitten,” she replied while placing her palm on her chest to show resolve.

Hina was unable to hold her laughter. Her new classmates in 2-A surely were interesting people. And Kaoru Seta, so far, topped the list. Even the Haneoka prince’s self introduction from twenty minutes back was so boppin’ in many ways.

“Kaoru-kun, mother kitten isn’t a kitten anymore!” Hina corrected as she wiped away her tears.

“Oh, my bad. I mean, ‘mother cat’,” Kaoru gently stroked her own hair. She smiled at Hina and continued, “You have my gratitude, little kitten.”

“No prob~” Hina replied, while on the other side of the classroom, there were some fangirls squealing, ‘Kaoru-sama!!’.

“...oh, Dear Lord.” Miss Kobayashi’s tired voice made Hina turned to the front of the class again. “It’s not even an hour since we began this homeroom…” The PE teacher facepalmed and said, “Just make your decision, Seta-san. _Please_.”

“Can’t we have two class rep--ouch!” Kaoru’s question stopped midway as a chalk hitted her head. However, it didn’t take much time until she regained her composure. “Please forgive my indecisiveness.”

“...so, are you going to vote or not?”

“To be, or not to be--”

“Argh, fine!” cut Miss Kobayashi. Irritation was clearly visible on her face now. The young teacher reached for her tracksuit’s pocket, to reveal a silver coin which seemed like a 500 yen. “We’ll decide the winner with this, okay?” she declared. “Heads for Takahashi-san and tails for Imai-san.”

“What a wise decision, my mo--”

“--it’s you who forced me to do this, Seta-san!”

Kaoru chuckled guiltily, then sat back on her chair.

A coin-toss to determine the class representative? What an exciting turn of events, Hina thought. It was still the first day, yet she could already imagine that every day will be very boppin’ here.

Miss Kobayashi summoned the two class representative candidates and Kaoru to the teacher’s desk to witness the fateful coin-tossing. The whole classroom went awfully silent for a few seconds, until...

“Congratulations, Takahashi-san,” said the homeroom teacher after she moved her left palm from the back of her right hand. She turned to Lisa next. “Imai-san, help Takahashi-san out, okay?’

“Reina my queen and Lisa my prime minister… Ah, how fleeting!”

“Yeah, whatevs, Seta-san,” Miss Kobayashi deadpanned. She then stepped away from the teacher’s desk to give a chance for Reina and Lisa to speak.

“Hi, everyone! Lisa and I will be in your care!” Reina exclaimed. She adjusted her glasses’ position and glanced to her deputy. “So… Lisa, where should we go after school for ice breaking?”

“Hold on; aren’t you skipping a lot of stuff?” Lisa chuckled, but decided to play along anyway. “Well, karaoke and diners never fails!”

A wave of ‘YAY!’ could be heard from 2-A girls, including Hina who liked karaoke.

“Great! We should stop by Lawson to buy some chopsticks, then,” said the class representative.

Lisa asked, “Why do we need them?”

“To play king game, of course!” Reina blatantly informed.

The whole class was in uproar. And Miss Kobayashi facepalmed, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☆ The example of a ‘stare moment’ can be seen in Honest Trailers - Twilight, minute 1:00 to 1:28. Search for it on YouTube~
> 
> ☆ King game is an ice-breaking game that works like truth or dare; except it only involves dare, dare, dare, and dare. The tasks usually get crazier the longer the game runs, that the players come home with shame and regret.


	3. Sisters in Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own BanG Dream! and any of its characters (the original characters are still mine, tho). BanG Dream! multimedia franchise is the property of Bushiroad and Craft Egg.

“I wonder why Hanako-sensei called us,” said Hina as she stepped out from 2-A classroom. “Oh! Do you think she’s gonna hand out treats?” she added gleefully.

“Mm, I don’t think that’s the case,” Lisa replied. She glanced at her phone. “...yup, definitely not treats,” she said subtlety and put it in her blazer’s pocket.

“Our mother kitten just can’t bear the thought of being separated with us,” Kaoru said, though she was quite sure that their summoning meant bad news.

Kaoru Seta, Lisa Imai, and Hina Hikawa were walking through the hallways of the third floor. At this fine morning, their names were called over the school’s PA system to report to the faculty room. All of them had absolutely no idea what was going on. Maybe, except Lisa who seemed uneasy since she invited Kaoru and Hina to go there together.

“Mm, where are your rabbits, Lisa-chi?” asked Hina. She pointed at one of her own ears.

Although the trio had only become friends for one day, it felt kind of odd to see Lisa without her pink upside-down rabbit earrings. As a matter of fact, she was one of a few students who dared to use accessories in the school premises. Kaoru had noticed its disappearance since Lisa was back from who knows where but decided not to pry.

Lisa touched her pierced earlobe. “Oh, this? I prefer to avoid disciplinarily violation today.” She later sighed and said, “If only Reina were here, ahaha...” The brunette gave a small laugh, yet it was apparent that she was troubled. Today she was a vice class representative without her head, after all.

“Lisa, my princess,” Kaoru gently said. As Lisa turned her face, she continued, “If our mother kitten decides to scold you, I’m going to protecc--” Her throat suddenly felt ticklish and she let out a sneeze to the opposite direction. No one was there, fortunately.

Her classmates laughed. Hina was the loudest.

“Kaoru-kun, you boppinly fail!” exclaimed Hina between her laughs.

Kaoru rubbed her nose. “I’m sorry. That was unsightly of me.”

“You know,” Lisa said. “If it weren’t for your sneeze, my heart would’ve been pounding right now.”

“May I say it one--”

Another sneeze.

“Kaoru, you okay?” asked Lisa. She paused for a while, then continued, “...you’re catching a cold because of yesterday, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I kinda saw you at the courtyard,” Lisa began her explanation. “You only wear a shirt on that breezy morning. No wonder you catch a cold now.”

Kaoru recalled that she put her blazer away to secure her current seat in their class. And to tell the truth, she had been feeling unwell since yesterday evening. The crimson eyed girl thought she would get better after a night rest, but her condition worsened instead. Kaoru woke up with a mild headache. Her throat was sore too.

“You were watching me the whole time?” Kaoru gasped. “I’m flattered,” she said.

Hina let out another gasp. “Li--Lisa-chi, you’re stalking Kaoru-kun?” she asked. Rather than astonishment, her face and tone were more like expressing tease instead.

“Whoa, I’m a stalker now?” Lisa startled. “No, no, no; please don’t put it that way!!”

* * *

Before long, the 2-A trio reached their destination. The faculty room was a large open space, with exception of the principal who had her private room. There were around twenty desks, neatly organized into several rows. Although the first period had yet to begin, most of the desks were already unoccupied.

“Where’s Takahashi-san?” asked Miss Kobayashi. “Thought I called her too.”

Their homeroom teacher was chilling at her seat. She hadn’t even changed into her usual tracksuit yet. Her desk wasn’t as dense as other teachers’ which were full of textbooks and stacks of paper. She did line up three textbooks which titles seemed sport-related, but the rest were mostly novels and there was even a Weekly Shonen JUMP magazine. Not surprising due to the fact that PE classes’ theory portion only took up ten to twenty percent.

“Class rep’s having a hang--oww!” Hina’s sentence stopped midway as Lisa pinched her arm.

“Pardon?” Miss Kobayashi raised her eyebrows.

Hangover, if Kaoru might add. Their class representative was a victim of order misplacement. There was a certain beverage in the menu named sangria, which she ordered because the drink looked cute with its red color and various fruit cuts. It had both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic variant. Long story short, an employee of the karaoke place gave the wrong one and the girl got drunk. The manager of the place later apologized and gave a compensation of one-year karaoke voucher to the victim.

“What Hina meant was…” said Lisa. “Reina doesn’t feel so good today, so she’s not coming to school. Ye--yes, that’s the case.”

“Still no email from her, though,” Miss Kobayashi muttered. “Oh well, let’s get to business, shall we? How’s your ice-breaking session yesterday?”

“Everything went perfectly fine~” Lisa answered. Her nervousness didn’t match her statement, though. “...I think.”

“Went perfectly fine, huh…” She massaged her head. “And how are you going to explain about Seta-san’s video and Hikawa-san’s photo?”

“My video?” Kaoru pointed at herself. She then placed her thumb and index finger on her chin and began to think. Since her arrival at school, people had been talking about a certain video of hers. They expressed how hot Kaoru’s voice was. Some of them requested her to repeat what she said on the video. Their face went as red as a beetroot, then they fainted. She might be used to her fans’ antics, but their gesture this morning was quite… bewildering.

Lisa went pale. ‘We’re so dead, yay~’ was written all over her face. Contradically, Hina seemed gleeful as usual. Kaoru? Still confused. And her headache struck again. It wasn’t that painful but still bugged her anyway.

“Please do enlighten me; what video and photo are we talking about?”

“Yesterday’s king game...” Lisa answered.

Kaoru recalled their ice-breaking session. Thirty-five high school girls from class 2-A went to a karaoke place on the nearby shopping street. They spent half of their time karaoke-ing and the remaining half playing king game (or in their case, queen game). The orders given by the queens weren’t that ridiculous, according to Kaoru. And her deed yesterday was...

“Look! It has reached 550k views!” Hina exclaimed and showed a tweet on her phone. She grinned and added, “And don’t forget to follow me back, Kaoru-kun~”

The tweet was posted by Hina Hikawa @RunRunPotato at 6:21 PM, shortly after yesterday’s ice-breaking session ended. Kaoru’s eyes widened as she saw the video’s impression; it had gained 553k views, 12.6k retweets, and 21.4k likes.

“How fleeting! Half a million people have seen my passionate performance!”

No wonder Kaoru’s phone was flooded with notifications since yesterday evening. Hina also mentioned her account on the tweet; that’s why. There were massive follows, retweets, likes, even DMs; but Kaoru hadn’t opened any of it because she went straight to bed after eating dinner.

“Yeah, half a million people watch a student in our school’s uniform--” Miss Kobayashi said with a flat tone. “--reading erotic novel passages with a voice that sounds so natural like it came out straight from a porn video.”

Hina turned her head to Kaoru. “Hey, Hanako-sensei encourages you to become a porn actress!”

“Aah, so fleeting!”

“I never said that!” the PE teacher corrected. She sighed and continued, “...and Hikawa-san, what’s with your inappropriate photo? Your underwears were exposed, you know?”

“Eeh? Thought it was boppin~” Hina pouted. “Superheroes are whooshing around with their panties on the outside, right?”

The PE teacher buried her face in her hands with embarrassment. “You’re not supposed to pole dancing with your bra and panties over your school uniform…!”

“It was the queen’s order, tho?” said Hina.

“Precisely, my mother kitten. Queen’s mandate is absolute,” Kaoru added. She placed a palm at her chest to dramatize the statement. “Mere retainers like Hina and I are in no power to oppose our sovereign...”

“Guys…” Lisa whispered. “I think we’re in no position to defend ourselves.”

“Do you girls realize that our school’s reputation will be tarnished by these viral video and photo?”

Kaoru and Hina exchanged look. Neither girl said another word.

Miss Kobayashi lowered her gaze with a miserable look on her face. “Oh God, what have I done to deserve this problematic class...” she muttered to herself. “Is my past life karma at work here?”

Lisa bowed to her homeroom teacher. “I’m sorry! I should have supervised my classmates yesterday,” she said. “I… I’m willing to take any punishment!”

“No, it is I who should be blamed. I’m the one who performed the deed,” Kaoru interjected. “Please leave Lisa out from this matter, Sensei.”

“Lisa-chi, Kaoru-kun!” Hina gasped. “You... you two are innocent! I’m at the most fault for making it viral!”

“You guys…” said Lisa.

“My, what do we have here?”

The four turned their heads, to see a woman in suit holding a teacup with its saucer. She was the principal of Haneoka high school division. Unlike Miss Kobayashi who currently was in a glum mood, the middle aged lady was smiling gently.

“Why are you arguing? Something happened?”

“Go--good morning, Principal Nishimura!” greeted Lisa as she straightened her body. “Uh, well… How should I put it...” The girl was so nervous that she didn’t dare to make eye contact with the principal.

* * *

The talk switched place to the principal’s office. The room was quite spacious, with a set of tea table at the corner as well as shelves containing trophies from various school clubs in Haneoka. Principal Nishimura sat behind a mahogany desk and Miss Kobayashi stood beside the luxurious furniture. 2-A trio, meanwhile, were lined up like criminal suspects across the police officers.

Kaoru never set foot on this room before. For a student to be summoned here only meant three things: you’re a vital member of the student council, you had won a competition representing the school, or you’ve just committed a serious violation. Sadly, their current position only fitted to the latter group.

This had become unnerving. Kaoru repeatedly told herself to relax. Today was a good day; same as always. She repeated her words of encouragement so many times that it eventually sounded like a mantra.

Miss Kobayashi explained what happened at yesterday’s ice-breaking session and how Hina posted its inappropriate queen game’s orders on Twitter. The principal listened in silence while she sipped her tea.

Principal Nishimura put her teacup on its saucer. “Actually, I’ve already seen the tweets. It has been causing quite a stir among netizens, huh…” she said and averted her gaze at Hina. “Say, Hikawa-san, what occurred in your mind when you decided to post the photo and video?”

“Mm, I thought yesterday’s event was fun. Everyone showed their interesting side when we played the queen game,” Hina began her explanation. “Twitter is like my diary, so I posted stuff there; including the queen game.” She appeared to be relaxed, although her eyes weren’t as sparkly as usual. “But I never thought that the tweets about Kaoru-kun and me are bad for our school’s name…” she admitted.

The principal nodded, then turned to Kaoru. “And how about you, Seta-san?”

“...if I may be honest, Hina and I share the same thought.”

“Thus, making you agreed to carry out the order?”

Kaoru nodded.

“Imai-san, since when did you aware of the distribution of Seta-san’s video and Hikawa-san’s photo?”

“I just saw it this morning…” Lisa answered. Her voice was so low that it almost sounded like a whisper. “I should’ve checked my Twitter last night and asked Hina to take it down, before it became that viral.”

“Normally you would check on your social media, but for some reason you didn’t,” Principal Nishimura concluded.

“Yes,” said Lisa. Her face reddened. “The aojiru I drank during the queen game made me feel nauseous all night.”

Lisa was among the retainers who faced the queen’s mandate. She was told to drink aojiru, a juice made from young barley leaves, that tasted awful. Lisa later admitted that she even hated its sibling (green smoothies); making it even more loathsome. 

“Say, what do the three of you know about Haneoka’s image?”

Hina placed her index finger at her chin. “Boppin’ uniforms?”

“One of the elite prep schools in Tokyo,” said Kaoru.

Lisa added, “Lots of our school’s alumni made it to National Seven Universities.” 

National Seven Universities were among the most prestigious institutions in Japan. To be accepted at one of the seven was like securing the future since multinational companies tend to hire people who graduated from big names like that. Kaoru was admitted to Haneoka since middle school because of that (though she couldn’t imagine herself as a salaryman). Lisa and Hina’s situation might be the same.

“Precisely,” said the older lady as she steepled her hands. “And what will people think when they see students from that prestigious Haneoka act like porn actresses?” 

Neither Kaoru, Lisa, nor Hina were brave enough to reply.

The principal’s face turned stern. “...we should suspend them for a week or two.” She glanced at the 2-A homeroom teacher.

The 2-A girls gasped in unison and looked at each other. Even Hina had a terrified look on her face now. Lisa? As white as tofu. Kaoru didn’t know what kind of face she was making, but she must look miserable now.

“Suspend? But that’s too--”

“Kobayashi-sensei, please inform their parents later,” the principal interject Miss Kobayashi’s sentence.

“N--no…” Hina said weakly. “Mom, dad, and onee-chan would kill me….”

Lisa, who was standing between Kaoru and Hina, trembled. Her ‘we’re so dead, yay~’ face had changed into a simple ‘we’re dead’.

Never before had Kaoru faced this kind of situation. In her sixteen years one month life, she had always been a good child who made her parents proud. To be struck by a suspension… She could imagine her mother cried her heart out and fainted.

That premonition wasn’t fleeting.

“That is--” Principal Nishimura smiled. “--if you were students from a decade back.”

“...eeh?”

“P--principal Nishimura, what do you mean by that?” asked Miss Kobayashi. She seemed as confused as Kaoru and friends.

“Oh, you don’t need to call their parents, Kobayashi-sensei,” the principal replied. “I just want to see the terrified look they would make.”

Principal Nishimura’s smile reminded Kaoru of her childhood friend Chisato, somehow. Calm and relaxed, yet deadly. What a fleeting persona.

“Well, if you say so...” said Miss Kobayashi.

“Instead, I should thank Hikawa-san for promoting our school throughout the country.”

The principal’s tone wasn’t sarcastic and her smile was genuine. That was surprising. Kaoru thought she would be furious. What was happening here?

“You’re welcome… I guess?” said Hina as she scratched the back of her head. “But to be honest, I don’t understand about me promoting our school.”

“Ah, yes; you’ve shown people that the students of our so-called-elite school are having fun,” the principal explained. “Furthermore, you were indirectly promoting the drama club through that splendid video of--ahem--erotic monologue.”

“Our school already has that fun vibe, tho?” said Hina.

Miss Kobayashi shrugged. “It’s nowhere near that if we talk about a decade back.”

“What happened?” Lisa asked curiously.

“Something so fleeting that our child selves were unaware of, I reckon?” 

Some ten years ago Kaoru was still enjoying her elementary marching band activities, playing with her friends at parks around the neighborhood, or watching kids’ TV shows. She was too little to know stuff like a certain elite school’s real-life dramas.

“The thing is, we have been trying to make Haneoka as a serious yet fun prep school.”

Principal Nishimura deliberately avoid the subject, which seemed kind of suspicious. And pressing at their teachers’ previous statement wouldn’t do any good. They’ve just escaped suspension, after all. 

“As your principal, I have no problem with the tweets,” the head teacher said. “But as your elder, I would advise you to be careful on publishing things on social media. The netizens could be… quite nasty, you know?” she added. “Although, for Seta-san’s video and Hikawa-san’s photo, I find that the comments are mostly positive. The lady luck is on your side this time, but I couldn’t say the same next time.”

“They understand that Seta-san and Hikawa-san were merely following orders from a king game, huh?” said Miss Kobayashi. “I was too shocked to scroll down the comments….”

Principal Nishimura chuckled. “Your panicky side never changes, Hana--” she immediately corrected, “--I mean, Kobayashi-sensei.”

Seemed like, Miss Kobayashi and Principal Nishimura were close. During one of the last year’s PE period, she mentioned that she was a Haneoka alumna. Miss Kobayashi might be Principal Nishimura’s favorite student or something along the lines.

“That’s all from me. Thank you for your time; Imai-san, Hikawa-san, and Seta-san.”

The 2-A girls bowed and expressed their gratitude.

Principal Nishimura took her cup of tea and glanced at the homeroom teacher of class 2-A. “Oh, you may give them a separate scolding, even a light punishment. You’re their homeroom teacher, after all.”

Seemed like, they wouldn’t escape without a scratch.

Miss Kobayashi crossed her hands and went silent for a few seconds, while the principal sipped her tea in peace.

“Okay then, you girls are going to stand beside the field while carrying buckets of water.”

Lisa glanced at Kaoru, then back at the PE teacher. “But Kaoru has shown symptoms--”

Kaoru patted Lisa’s shoulder; making the vice class representative stopped her sentence. The ponytailed girl placed her index finger at her own lips as she smiled and winked at Lisa.

Lisa was puzzled at first, but her expression immediately turned into a teasing smile. “Don’t blame me if you faint or something, okay?” she whispered.

“And making you carry me around to the nurse’s room?” Kaoru whispered back. “Not a chance, my princess. It is a prince’s duty to carry people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☆ Supeeeeer late update. So sorry about that! After managed to write up to six pages, I just realized that the storytelling seemed off. Thus, I must rewrite this chapter all over again from page zero.


	4. The Stubborn Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own BanG Dream! and any of its characters (the original characters are still mine, tho). BanG Dream! multimedia franchise is the property of Bushiroad and Craft Egg.

The 2-A trio didn’t need to wait long to receive their punishment. As soon as they left the principal’s office, they returned to their classroom to grab their PE uniforms, then went straight to a changing room. Though for the girls, their activity was ninety percent talk and ten percent getting changed.

Lisa was reminded of something as she untied her striped necktie. Back then Hina muttered about her being killed (figuratively) by her sister if she were suspended from school.

“So you have a sister, Hina?”

“Yup! Onee-chan is eight minutes older than me!”

“Wow, twins at that!” said Lisa. “You guys did matching clothes as kids?”

“We used to switch places all the time.” Hina smiled as she was reminiscing, then it turned into a smug. “Even mom and dad were fooled back then~” Her green eyes went glittery as she carried on. “And, and… Onee-chan is the coolest person in the world! She’s very zappin’ with her guitar and I think she joins a band too!”

Lisa giggled. Hina reminded her of Ako and Tomoe, her juniors at the dance club. How the younger sister admired her older sister; a bond that Lisa never had.

Hina spun her blue track jacket lightly. “How about you, Lisa-chi? Do you have any siblings?”

Lisa shook her head and sighed. “Being an only child gets lonely sometimes...” she said. “Mom and dad are there, but I can’t talk about the latest trends or hang out to with them. There’s this generation gap thingy, you see...”

“Welp, it’s not like onee-chan and I talk often these days,” Hina replied. She still wore her smile, though not as bright as before.

‘Do you guys have a fight?’ was what Lisa would’ve asked, but decided not to. It was impolite for her to pry into Hina’s private matter since they only became friends just recently. She’d better switch the topic.

“Kaoru, you’ve been awfully quiet--”

“Eeh, she’s sleeping…” said Hina as she approached the Haneoka prince.

Kaoru was fast asleep while sitting on a bench. She leaned her back to the wall behind. Unlike Lisa and Hina who took forever to change, the purple haired girl had worn her tracksuit. She also donned two extra accessories which didn’t quite fit in: a medical mask along with a scarf.

“Now I’m afraid she’s going to collapse for real during our punishment, ahaha…”

“If that happens, we’ll just carry Kaoru-kun to the nurse’s room together!”

Kaoru won’t be pleased with that situation due to her princely-idealism-thing, but it’ll be very mean to leave her laying on the ground.

“Let’s leave her be for a few more minutes,” Lisa suggested. “I forgot to bring something, by the way. Wanna tag along to the class?”

* * *

 “Say... Seta-san, why do you look _like_ that?”

...was what Miss Kobayashi uttered when she saw Kaoru. The PE teacher made no attempt to hide her surprise, as she raised her eyebrows. The school prince’s fans from 2-B were also expressing their concern.

“Please get back to your warming up, girls. You may want to avoid sprained legs,” said Miss Kobayashi to the neighboring class’ students. As the girls were walking away, she turned back to Kaoru. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“Not in the slightest, my mother kitten,” Kaoru replied as she stroked her purple forelock. “The little kittens need to focus solely on your PE lesson.” She coughed a little bit before continued, “It would be unfortunate for you, my mother kitten, if their attention were shifted due to the presence of yours truly.”

“Oh, you remind me of idols! They wear masks in public to hide their sparkly sparkly presence~” said Hina.

“...right,” Miss Kobayashi deadpanned.

“In Kaoru’s case, the outcome is the opposite, though,” Lisa giggled. “You’re more stand out than ever right now.”

“Now I regret worrying over you,” Miss Kobayashi sighed, then pointed at six buckets of water in front of the 2-A trio. “Just carry that and watch 2-B’s lesson, capiche?”

“Aye aye, ma’am!” Hina gave the homeroom teacher a salute.

And thus, the punishment began. Each of the 2-A girls carried two buckets of water. Although being disciplined right now, the three chatted casually just like friends who were hanging out at a cafe.

“Yeah, we've been together since we were kids,” Lisa said.

“Mmm…” Hina touched her chin. “If you’ve spent so many years together, doesn’t it make you guys like sisters?”

“Come to think of it; I guess so? Her parents are kinda like my second mom and dad too,” Lisa replied. She giggled then added, “Looks like I’m not an only child, after all...”

“Yup, yup!” Hina nodded in agreement.

“Speaking of her, she’s looking this way~”

Yukina was among the students of 2-B. The silver-haired girl gave Lisa a frown and took a step forward, but immediately turned around as she got called by Miss Kobayashi.

“Yukina the lone-wolf songstress, huh…” Kaoru said. “I’d like to--” she coughed. “--perform musicals with her.”

“Wow, that’s going to be interesting!” Lisa commented.

Kaoru let out another cough, which made Lisa became more worried. She let go of the buckets, picked a scarf from her track jacket’s pocket, then put it around Kaoru’s neck. “Wha--” the taller girl protested, but Hina immediately followed Lisa’s action (her version of knot looked like a headscarf, though).

“Why the extra scarves?” Kaoru asked confusedly. “You should wear it for yourselves. It’s unfleeting if my little kittens were catching a cold too.”

“Catching a cold _too_ , mm?” Hina gave a smug smile. “Admitting that you have a cold, now?”

“Huh?” Kaoru startled. “Y--you must be hearing things, Hina. I never said that word.”

“I heard that too, you know,” said Lisa.

Kaoru averted her gaze to the skies. “What fine weather we have!” she talked to herself (as well as animals) when a flock of birds was passing by. “Oh, what do we have here? Pleased to meet you, little birds!”

“It’s kinda sad to see her desperately hiding her cold,” Lisa whispered at Hina. The topic of the conversation, meanwhile, was still busily communicating with animals.

“I wonder why Kaoru-kun does that,” Hina whispered back.

Kaoru removed Lisa and Hina’s scarves. “I appreciate your gesture, but... I’m okay, really,” she said as she handed the fabrics back to its owners. “Here, put these on.”

Hina didn’t welcome the return. Instead, she pouted. “No can do, Kaoru-kun! We’re gonna catch a cold for real if we wear _that_ now.”

Although half of Kaoru’s face was covered with a medical mask, Lisa somehow could see the puzzled look on her face.

“You heard the girl,” Lisa agreed. “Our scarves are already contaminated. You have no choice but to wear those~”

Kaoru chuckled. “How crafty of you,” she said. “Alright then, I’ll make use of the scarves,” said the girl then as she wore the fabrics back.

The three lifted their buckets again. The sound of Kaoru’s cough filled the air a few times.

“By the way, these buckets felt heavier the longer we carry them...”

“Do you need a hand, princess?”

“Thanks, but Kobayashi-sensei will scold me if I don’t carry it,” Lisa replied. “Besides, your hands are full, right?”

Kaoru put her buckets to the ground. “Not if I spread my hands,” she claimed as she did a T-pose. “Come, hang the buckets!”

“Hold that pose, Kaoru-kun!” exclaimed Hina. She took out a phone from her track jacket pocket. “Imma capture it and make some memes!”

“A meme about how my pose reminds you of Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio?” asked Kaoru. “Ah, how fleeting!”

“I’m quite certain it’s not what crosses in her mind,” Lisa commented.

“Lisa?”

“Oh! Hey, Yukina!”

Lisa waved at her friend who walked toward her. Yukina wore a standard second-year students’ PE attire which consisted of a white t-shirt and a pair of blue track pants. Her long hair was put into a ponytail.

“What brings you here?”

“Greetings, my princess!”

“It’s me who should ask that question,” Yukina ignored Kaoru. She gave Lisa a concerned look.

Lisa replied, “We are punished by Kobayashi-sensei. No biggie, though.”

“Is that so…” Yukina muttered. She then said, “I should return to the field. Talk to you later, Lisa,” and walked away.

“Wait!” Kaoru exclaimed; making Yukina stopped and turned around. Kaoru approached the songstress and kneel before her. “My princess, I believe we are bound to meet by the strings of fate. Would you like to perform in a musical with me?”

“No,” Yukina coldly replied. “Who are you, anyway?”

Hina laughed at the theater club star, while Lisa could hear an imaginary sound of Kaoru’s heart broken into pieces.

Kaoru faked a cough. “M--my, how foolish of me. Of course, you’re unable to recognize yours truly with this mask on.” She took off her medical mask and tried to ask Yukina once more. “It is I, Kaoru Seta of the theater club. Pleased to meet you, my princess.”

Yukina shrugged and wore a flat ‘oh, it’s you’ face. “Still no. Sorry.”

And off she went; leaving Kaoru who was still in her princely-kneel mode.

Lisa tapped Kaoru’s shoulder. “Please don’t take it to heart. She meant no harm.”

“Playing hard to get, hmm?” Kaoru smiled. “She sure is a shy little kitten.”

“Ahaha…” Lisa chuckled. Should she tell her that Yukina was simply not interested to perform in musicals?

“Poor Kaoru-kun!” exclaimed Hina as she hugged Kaoru from behind. “Lemme comfort your broken heart!” 

“I thank you, my little kitten.”

“...hey, you’re hot, Kaoru-kun.”

“A plenty of little kittens told me so. It is a sin to be such a fleetingly beautiful creature.”

“Nope, I mean the feverish kind of hot.”


	5. Visiting the Fallen Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it took nearly half a year to publish a new chapter… I’m ashamed to come up with any excuse, to be perfectly honest. I hope there are still people that looking forward to this series >.< You might want to re-read the previous chapter because it has been so long.

It was Wednesday, two days before the theater club’s first performance in this brand new school year. Its leading actress had recovered from her cold. Yet, as if the Gods were asking for a sacrificial lamb, another had fallen in return.

Yes, in this fine morning it was Lisa who had to be absent. Yesterday it was the class representative (though alcoholic beverage was the one at fault here), then followed by Kaoru herself who had to go home early due to cold. For the class of 2-A to go on with an incomplete cast, two days in a row…

What a tragedy it was.

Kaoru rested her chin on her left hand and gazed at the courtyard. Being seated beside the window gave her ease to observe the activities down there. The open area was quite lively with dozens of girls in their school uniforms as well as jerseys. They belonged to various clubs ―both cultural and sports― in their effort of recruiting new members, especially first-years.

She spotted a certain teal-haired girl arriving at the school gate. As the second-year student walked through the courtyard, she was approached by various school club members. They intend to recruit her, Kaoru guessed, yet the girl gave them an apologetic gesture, then went inside the school building. It was a mystery why Hina Hikawa chose to remain at the astronomy club instead of joining a more lively one.

Speak of the devil, Hina entered the classroom a few minutes later. The top student walked to her desk and greeted all of her classmates along the way. She put her bag, two desks in front of Kaoru's and gleefully exclaimed, “Morning, Kaoru-kun!”

Kaoru smiled and replied to Hina's greeting. 

The seat between Kaoru and Hina was unoccupied. She chose the rear seat beside the window because she wanted some privacy, away from her fans. But when the seat before her was empty, she felt kind of blue now.

"That seems lonely," Hina commented while she put out her phone and snack from the school bag. "Guess I should sit at Lisa-chi's desk today~"

"M-my, do I seemed that sorrowful?"

Hina shook her head. "Not really. Just a hunch!"

Kaoru let out a sigh. “Lisa doesn’t have to undergo this pain if only I didn’t fall ill that day…”

Hina giggled. “You make it seemed like she’s contracted an incurable disease.”

“Are you feeling well, Hina?” asked Kaoru. She averted her gaze and continued her sentence in a lower voice, almost like a whisper. “It would be even more tragic if you were infected too...”

“I feel boppin’ as usual! No worries, no worries!” Hina offered a snack to Kaoru. It was a box of Chocobi with its pinky crocodile mascot and Crayon Shin-chan printed on it. “Want some?”

"Thanks." Kaoru took some star-shaped biscuits from its hexagonal box. "Mm, people say geniuses don’t catch colds…"

"Isn’t it the fools?"

Kaoru gasped. “W-well. In other words…” the crimson-eyed girl said in an effort to regain her composure. “That’s how it is.”

Hina giggled. “You’re an interesting person, Kaoru-kun!” The girl then munched at her snack.

* * *

Kaoru matched the pinpoint on her map application and with a house before her. It was a two-story building with minimalistic architecture, painted in the color of lavender.

“This fleeting-looking residence must be Lisa’s abode.”

Hina who walked a few steps ahead spotted a nameplate that belonged to the said house. “Bzzzt...!” She imitated the sound of a buzzer. “It's Yukina-chan's.”

Kaoru eventually visited Lisa due to her ever-growing guilt. She even volunteered to bring printouts of today’s lessons for the fallen princess. Call her exaggerating, but she just couldn’t bear to see other people’s misfortune.

Hina, who claimed she had nothing boppin' to do before her band practice, decided to tag along. Kaoru recalled that during the last few weeks of their first year, Hina was seen asking everyone in the school whether they were in a band and need a guitarist. Kaoru was among the people Hina asked, but she couldn’t help her because she wasn’t a part of any band. So when Kaoru heard the news about Hina finally joining a band ―the teal-haired girl even carrying a guitar gig bag around right now―she was relieved.

“Yukina? Why would her house be here?”

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. She approached Hina and read the nameplate. The name inscribed on its marble surface was ‘Minato’ in both kanji and Roman alphabet form.

“This should be the one!” Hina pointed at another nameplate, right next to Yukina’s house. The limestone slab had the kanji for ‘Imai’ exquisitely engraved on it.

“Oh, now I remember…” Kaoru said. “Lisa did mention about her being neighbors with Yukina.”

Imai residence also had a minimalistic architecture and consisted of two stories. It had a brighter color accent than the neighboring Minato; cream-colored walls covered by bricks at some parts. Illumination of the late afternoon sun furtherly emphasized the warm atmosphere of the building. And now that they had arrived at the right house, it was time to ring the bell.

“Lisa-chi! Hey, Lisa-chiiiii…! It’s Hina and Kaoru!”

...or not.

Kaoru chuckled and refrained from pressing the doorbell. Hina Hikawa the brightest student in the school sure was a lively fellow.

The door on the second floor slid open and Lisa made her appearance. The girl was in her pajamas and she let her wavy hair loose. She greeted Kaoru and Hina from the balcony. Her demeanor was lively as usual, so it put Kaoru at ease. The brunette went out of sight for a little while, then opened the front door.

Kaoru took back her words. Upon closer look, Lisa didn't seem that fine. Her face was beet red and she looked obviously tired.

“Make yourselves at home~” Lisa provided two pairs of home slippers for her guests. “But, man… You guys don’t need to go all the way here, ahaha.”

The house was quiet. There was no sign of anyone aside from the three of them.

"Your mother doesn't seem to be present." Kaoru guessed as she put her loafers aside and changed it into home slippers.

"My mom is away visiting relatives since yesterday."

Kaoru gasped. “H-how grieving! To be all alone, tending for yourself during this time of distress…!”

"You’re making it as if mom left me forever!” Lisa laughed. “It’s not that sad, really… Yukina's mom tended for me this morning before leaving for work, and Yukina also stopped by just a while ago."

"Oh, it seems the fate doesn't allow me to meet the lone-wolf songstress. What an unfortunate circumstance..."

“Looks like someone’s want to re-propose Yukina-chan,” said Hina who wore a teasing smile.

“Why of course.” Kaoru chuckled while stroking her strands of purple hair. “The lone-wolf songstress might have declined my offer yesterday, but giving up is not in the lexicon of yours truly.” She waved her hand and declared, “I still have two whole years to persuade her; for Confucius once said, ‘It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop’!”

Hina clapped. “You’re so interesting, Kaoru-kun! Gimme another boppin’ quote!”

Kaoru rubbed her chin. “Of course, the dearest quotes in my heart came from the great bard…”

"Who?"

Hina raised an eyebrow. Kaoru, at the same time, dramatically placed her hand on the chest.

“There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

“So, it’s Shakespeare!” Hina's eyes went sparkling in excitement.

“We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone." Kaoru folded her arms across chest, forming the letter 'x'. "Aaah, the epitome of fleetingness!”

Hina asked for more, but Lisa suggested her friends continue it in the living room.

“Wait, let Dr. Hikawa check your temperature~” Hina suddenly touched Lisa’s forehead; making the other party startled. “Huh, you’re warmer than Kaoru yesterday.”

“T-that’s horrifying!” Kaoru exclaimed in panic. She accessed the contacts on her phone. “Let me call a doctor for you!”

"Stop, stop, stop…!"

Kaoru and Hina turned their heads to the owner of the house.

"Phew, now I'm more tired than ever…" Lisa facepalmed.

"Sorry, Lisa-chi.…"

"That was unsightly of me. Please forgive the commotion I caused."

"N-no! I’m the one who should say sorry for shouting like that." Lisa shook her head and smiled. "I'm fine, really! No need for any doctor~"

Kaoru sighed. “Though doctors exist to cure people...”

“...Kaoru, what did I say just before?” Lisa said. She was smiling, but Kaoru could sense a hint of anger.

Kaoru’s body tensed. “Understood, my mother kitten.”

Hina laughed. “Lisa-chi is just like moms, eh?”

“Hmph…! Not you too, Hina~”

Kaoru then suggested Lisa rest and let them care for her. The patient didn’t raise protest like before and invited them to her room while jokingly said, “Don’t blame me if you guys are infected later, okay?”

Kaoru and Hina were walking behind Lisa. The two quietly whispering around.

"Maybe we should make her something,” Kaoru said. “She seems in low energy," 

"But I'm a terrible cook, you know~" Hina replied.

"Fret not, little kitten. I’m quite confident with my cooking," Kaoru said reassuringly. "How about this: I tend for Lisa while you buy the ingredients." Although her friend admitted that she wasn’t a good cook, Hina should be able to pick for decent ingredients.

Hina raised her thumbs.

* * *

It didn’t take long for Lisa to sleep soundly on her bed. Kaoru closed the bedroom door quietly and talked with Hina in the hallway; discussing the plan to cook something for the brunette.

“Okey dokey! Imma back really soon; twenty minutes tops!”

Kaoru opened her wallet and took out a 10,000 yen banknote. “I’ll pay for the ingredients." She smiled wryly. "It’s my fault that Lisa catches ―"

“ ― your allowance is 10,000 yen, huh….”

“Mm?” Kaoru muttered. “My, of course, it’s not that few." The school prince chuckled. "I have roughly a dozen of the same denomination in my wallet.”

Hina wore a dumbfounded face as she received the money. The top student then raised her voice and pouted. “What kind of high school student receives hundreds of thousands of yen for her allowance?!" She showed Kaoru a nickel silver coin and continued, "You… you crazy rich Japanese! Trade your 10,000 with my 500!”

So there Hina went with her mysterious outburst. And she didn't actually give Kaoru her 500 yen coin.

Now it was Kaoru who was left dumbfounded. What did Hina mean by crazy rich? 100,000 yen was the normal amount that Kaoru’s dear grandfather gave whenever she met him.

Oh, how other people confused her sometimes….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10,000 yen is worth about 90 USD. Grandpa-pampered-Kaoru is just a headcanon that I made up after spotting some hints scattered throughout the game, indicating her possibility of being secretly wealthy (but not to the point of crazy rich like Kokoro is).


End file.
